In 1967 Lilburn presented pianist, friend and colleague Margaret Nielsen with a folder of piano pieces labelled 'Crotchety at 51!' The composer asked Nielsen to 'please see what you can make of these.' The result is this quite extraordinary sequence that can be conceived as an extension of the Sings Harry settings of Denis Glover's poems. Both speak of a bittersweet point of balance at a moment between youth-just-past and age-about-to-come, and each communicates awareness that all human experience is finally put into context against the power and beauty of the natural world. A particular fascination is how each piece brings out specific qualities of sonority and timbre within a precise shape to hold it in place, thus anticipating Lilburn's electro-acoustic music.